Colorado's solution to 420 sign theft: Mile marker 419.99

Colorado officials think a difference of one-hundredth of a mile will be enough to stop thieves from stealing the mile marker 420 sign along Interstate 70.

Amy Ford of the Colorado Department of Transportation says the “MILE 420”³ sign near Stratton was stolen for the last time sometime in the last year, and officials replaced it with a sign that says “MILE 419.99.”

Ford says it's the only “420”³ sign to be replaced in the state that recently legalized recreational marijuana. Most highways aren't long enough to need one.

The number “420”³ has long been associated with marijuana, though its origins as a shorthand for pot are murky.

Mile 419.99, about 25 miles from the Kansas border, isn't the only place in Colorado with a fractional mile marker. Cameron Pass in Larimer County has a “MILE 68.5”³ sign after frequent thefts of the “MILE 69”³ sign.